Who's vulnerable?

All of us feel vulnerable at some time during our daily lives. For example, you might feel like someone is following you home. Or maybe a group of kids try to intimidate you at a bus stop. Or maybe you just get lost and need to ask directions. Our natural instinct is to look around for someone to help. Preferably someone you know informally like a neighbour or a bus driver. But people with developmental disabilities have a harder time making these kinds of informal connections with people around them for a variety of reasons. In short, they tend to be more socially isolated which puts them at greater risk when they face vulnerable situations.

A simpler way to say it is that everyone is vulnerable at times. Being vulnerable means your are at risk of being harmed or having bad things happen to you. Harm can come in many forms. It can be physical harm like falling down or being beaten up on the street. It can be emotional harm like being yelled at, called names, or not having your choices taken into account. It can be financial harm, like not having enough money to live a good life, or having someone steal your money. Being vulnerable can also mean that people don't have good things in their life that others take for granted.

Putting the "safe" in safeguards

Community Living BC believes adults with developmental disabilities and their families have the right to pursue good lives in welcoming communities. Part of a good life for people is feeling safe from harm where they live, go to school, work and play. This includes physical harm, emotional harm, or financial harm.

One important way to make sure that people are safe from harm is through "safeguards." Safeguards are actions that are done on purpose to help reduce the risk that someone will be harmed. Informal safeguards in communities can help ensure that people with developmental disabilities are at no greater risk than the rest of us in our daily lives.

Advice from people with developmental disabilities

When we talked to people with developmental disabilities about how they could feel safer in their day-to-day lives, they had some great advice. They said, "if people would just say "Hi" to us more, maybe we would feel more included and feel like we had more people to ask for help if we needed it."

What can you do?

So, if you're a shop-keeper, bus driver, neighbour, letter carrier, bank teller or community member, here's what we're asking you to do. Just say "Hi" to a person that you see regularly who has developmental disabilities. Or someone you've just noticed. Look them in the eye and let them know you're a friendly person. You don't need to help them, or grab their arm to cross the street, or commit to a lifelong friendship. Start with "Hi." This will be the start of a small connection that will help establish a sense of belonging in a community. You might find out that that person likes coffee as much as you do. Or Star Trek movies or golf. Who knows? But, rather than look away, or at your shoes, or wonder what to say, just say "Hi." That's it.

What can we all do?

If you're a person with a developmental disability or a family member, tell us your story about how someone made you feel like part of our communities. Right here on this website.

Or if you said "Hi" to someone with a developmental disability, tell us your story... tell us how it made you feel, or the difference you feel like it could make.

Everyone, forward this link to your friends. Share it on your Facebook page. Tweet about it. Get the word out that a simple act of kindness, can have a huge impact on keeping people safe and building safe communities. As we build our stories, we are also building our communities.

To learn more about Safeguards, click here.